A marching band plays as people gather on an impromptu red carpet and take pictures. The gentlemen make their entry to the show, clad in black and white attire, the dress code for the night. Beside them is life size cutout of a celebrated man, this one a bit shorter and donning horn-rimmed glasses, a pointed goatee, and black necktie.
If it sounds like a celebration has come into town, that’s because it has—or rather, it has returned after a short hiatus. We’re talking about the recent outlet launch of the signature chicken brand, KFC Pakistan which drew its leadership team and the face of the brand, Colonel Sander’s life size figure. Over the last couple of years, KFC has taken a multipronged approach to turning things around, revamping its outdated looking assets and making restaurants that are state-of-the-art and speaks of nothing but class and oomph.
KFC has led a complete turnaround in Pakistan by leveraging into different media touch-points, and with each it has proved to be a young, sassy and relevant to the millennial brand. The brand nurtured the decades old love for arts and culture by reviving Pakistani cinema and sponsoring some of the biggest blockbusters in recent years such as Lahore se Aagey, Chupan Chupai and Maan Jao Na, to name a few. In a similar vein, KFC Pakistan collaborated with Salt Arts to bring back Strings to Karachi after a decade. But it brought to life much more than that – it brought back memories of the the salty sea breeze, a rickety tape recorder, the memory of a classic camera, young man with a guitar, a solo moment with a cloud of velvety music lingering in the night air of Karachi in December.
While it has taken on board multiple collaborations and joined hands with various different initiatives, it is not an easy task to unify glamor and fast food, yet it is a challenge they embraced. And from the looks of all the recent work we see from KFC, it is evident that it is an endeavor they did not take lightly at any point, and the painstaking effort and care that went into creating each campaign was as exhilarating as it was demanding.
However, KFC Pakistan is much more than chicken, spice and everything nice – its CSR initiative Mitao Bhook has led an incredible social change in Pakistan, contributing more than PKR 70 MM for the welfare of our underprivileged community. Mitao Bhook takes its name from our national language Urdu to connect on a broader level with Pakistanis from all walks of life. This name fits into KFC’s ideology of giving back to the community not just in monetary terms but also in giving hope for a brighter future, bigger aspirations and a never-say-die courage to face the odds. With the help of this platform, KFC and its customers reach out to hundreds of lives, helping curb the hunger for better education, hunger for better living and hunger for a better society.
Some of its notable interventions include building a TCF school, running a school for deaf children by the name of Deaf Reach School KFC Campus, establishing an orphanage home for the kids at SOS Children’s Village, to name a few.
While KFC Pakistan has led a number of notable milestones, we’re sure this is the just the beginning of their remarkable journey, despite having very good success the last few years, Kentucky Fried Chicken’s best days are still ahead of us and from the looks of it the northern star does not seem very far.
Bon voyage, KFC!